--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We shall not lie on our backs at the Red…" description: "\"“We shall not lie on our backs at the Red Castle and watch the vultures wheeling over the valley where they killed the grandson of Genghiz. We will not..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/bruce-chatwin-11797_blind-man_we-shall-not-lie-on-our-backs-at-the-red_2285781.jpg" --- # We shall not lie on our backs at the Red Castle and watch… ![“We shall not lie on our backs at the Red Castle and watch the vultures wheeling over the valley where they killed the grandson of Genghiz. We will not read Babur's memoirs in his garden at Istalif and see the blind man smelling his way around the rose bushes. Or sit in the Peace of Islam with the…” quote by Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/bruce-chatwin-11797_blind-man_we-shall-not-lie-on-our-backs-at-the-red_2285781.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/bruce-chatwin-11797_blind-man_we-shall-not-lie-on-our-backs-at-the-red_2285781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/bruce-chatwin-11797_blind-man_we-shall-not-lie-on-our-backs-at-the-red_2285781.jpg) > ““We shall not lie on our backs at the Red Castle and watch the vultures wheeling over the valley where they killed the grandson of Genghiz. We will not read Babur's memoirs in his garden at Istalif and see the blind man smelling his way around the rose bushes. Or sit in the Peace of Islam with the beggars of Gazar Gagh. We will not stand on the Buddha's head at Bamiyan, upright in his niche like a whale in a dry-dock. We will not sleep in the nomad tent, or scale the Minaret of Jam. And we shall lose the tastes - the hot, coarse, bitter bread; the green tea flavoured with cardamoms; the grapes we cooled in the snow-melt; and the nuts and dried mulberries we munched for altitude sickness. Nor shall we get back the smell of the beanfields, the sweet, resinous smell of deodar wood burning, or the whiff of a snow leopard at 14,000 feet.”” [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage laments the loss of cultural heritage and sensory experiences due to war and displacement, urging remembrance of vanished traditions. **In simple terms:** War erases places, foods, smells, and memories. Key Takeaway Preserve and cherish endangered cultures. Themes heritage loss memory war identity Mood melancholic reflective nostalgic Type literary poetic evocative When to use this quote - travel writing - historical reflection - personal narrative Key Concepts cultural erosion nostalgia displacement Practical Applications - tourism - heritage preservation - culinary exploration - environmental awareness Questions to Reflect On - What traditions from your own culture are at risk? - How can we actively protect intangible heritage? A Different Perspective The vivid sensory details may romanticize loss, overlooking resilience of surviving communities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Babur Memoirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/babur-memoirs-5352559/) [Blind man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-man/) [Genghiz Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genghiz-read-5352558/) [Grandson Genghiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandson-genghiz-5352561/) [Read Babur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-babur-5352560/) [Rose bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose-bush/) [Shall Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shall-smell-3981959/) ## Related quotes > [If Leekes you like, but do their smell dis-like, Eat Onyons, and you shall not smell the Leeke; If you of Onyons would the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kitchiner/if-leekes-you-like-but-do-their-smell-dis-like-eat-onyons-and-you/) [William Kitchiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kitchiner/) > [Let my muse Fail of thy former helps, and only use Her inadulterate strength. 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Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [“Almost Easter Shaking bone meal from my bare hands into the rose bed where only one bush grows, I feel as if I’m scattering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicia-mitchell/almost-easter-shaking-bone-meal-from-my-bare-hands-into-the-rose-bed/) [Felicia Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicia-mitchell/) > [You can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/you-can-complain-because-rose-bushes-have-thorns-or-rejoice-because/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Golf isn't just about hitting a lot of drivers. I grew up playing on my front lawn, chipping and putting into soup cans, out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-alcott/golf-isn-t-just-about-hitting-a-lot-of-drivers-i-grew-up-playing-on/) [Amy Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-alcott/) > [I earned my first steady paycheck watering rose bushes at a nursery for a dollar an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/i-earned-my-first-steady-paycheck-watering-rose-bushes-at-a-nursery/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [The new wrinkle is that escalating advances in technology are nourishing the narcissistic ego the way chicken manure nourishes a rose bush, while exploding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-new-wrinkle-is-that-escalating-advances-in-technology-are/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“The real strength of the rose bush is not in the flowers but in the roots and the branches.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorcas-kareithi/the-real-strength-of-the-rose-bush-is-not-in-the-flowers-but-in-the/) [Dorcas Kareithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorcas-kareithi/) > [“Hugh and Fiona stood off to one side, their hands linked and foreheads touching, saying goodbye in their own quiet way. Finally, we'd all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/hugh-and-fiona-stood-off-to-one-side-their-hands-linked-and-foreheads/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) ## More by Bruce Chatwin > [Tyranny sets up its own echo-chamber.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/tyranny-sets-up-its-own-echo-chamber/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“I think I would be happy in that place I happen not to be, and this question of moving house is the subject of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/i-think-i-would-be-happy-in-that-place-i-happen-not-to-be-and-this/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [And the formation of man is the most pressing problem facing humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/and-the-formation-of-man-is-the-most-pressing-problem-facing-humanity/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [A Sufi manual, the Kashf-al-Mahjub, says that, towards the end of his journey, the dervish becomes the Way not the wayfarer, i.e. a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/a-sufi-manual-the-kashf-al-mahjub-says-that-towards-the-end-of-his/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [I pictured a low timber house with a shingled roof, caulked against storms, with blazing log fires inside and the walls lined with all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/i-pictured-a-low-timber-house-with-a-shingled-roof-caulked-against/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“One year, he went to Paris for the week-end: but that completely upset his equilibrium.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/one-year-he-went-to-paris-for-the-week-end-but-that-completely-upset/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [It's an old sailor's idea that every ship has a rope with one end made fast to her bows and the other held by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/it-s-an-old-sailor-s-idea-that-every-ship-has-a-rope-with-one-end/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“ Fino a quando, Signore, fino a quando? ... "Finché non siano devastate le città...". I Profeti confidavano in un Giorno della Restaurazione, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/fino-a-quando-signore-fino-a-quando-finch-non-siano-devastate-le-citt/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [I climbed a path and from the top looked up-stream towards Chile. I could see the river, glinting and sliding through the bone-white cliffs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/i-climbed-a-path-and-from-the-top-looked-up-stream-towards-chile-i/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“The real home of man is not his house but the road. Life itself is a travel that has to be done by foot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/the-real-home-of-man-is-not-his-house-but-the-road-life-itself-is-a/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“What am I doing here? Rimbaud writing home from Ethiopia”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/what-am-i-doing-here-rimbaud-writing-home-from-ethiopia/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > ['I will go to France, to Yugoslavia, to China, and continue my profession.' 'As sanitary engineer?' 'No, Monsieur. As adventurer. I will see all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/i-will-go-to-france-to-yugoslavia-to-china-and-continue-my-profession/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [Walking is a virtue, tourism is a deadly sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/walking-is-a-virtue-tourism-is-a-deadly-sin/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [Richard Lee calculated that a Bushman child will be carried a distance of 4,900 miles before he begins to walk on his own. Since,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/richard-lee-calculated-that-a-bushman-child-will-be-carried-a/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [“Gradually the idea for a book began to take shape. It was to be a wildly ambitious and intolerant work, a kind of 'Anatomy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/gradually-the-idea-for-a-book-began-to-take-shape-it-was-to-be-a/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) [Explore all 53 Bruce Chatwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) ## More Blind man quotes > [He looked at her... like a Blind Man seeing the Sun for the very First Time...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-looked-at-her-like-a-blind-man-seeing-the-sun-for-the-very-first/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“And the blind man said to the deaf man, "Do you see what I hear?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/and-the-blind-man-said-to-the-deaf-man-do-you-see-what-i-hear/) [Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/) > [“People had always amazed him, he began. But they amazed him more since the sickness. For as long as the two of them had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/people-had-always-amazed-him-he-began-but-they-amazed-him-more-since/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [If my GoD is a DoG then I'm a Blind man because he's steal leading me to safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ntando-aka-punchlinelord/if-my-god-is-a-dog-then-i-m-a-blind-man-because-he-s-steal-leading-me/) [Ntando Aka @PunchlineLord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ntando-aka-punchlinelord/) > [Ma'am," Augustus said, nodding toward her, "Your daughter's car has just been deservingly egged by a blind man. Please close the door and go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/ma-am-augustus-said-nodding-toward-her-your-daughter-s-car-has-just/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Once, I sang colors to a blind man. Seven hours I played, but at the end he said he saw them, green and red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/once-i-sang-colors-to-a-blind-man-seven-hours-i-played-but-at-the-end/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [ “The object \[Duchamp's Fountain\] was rejected , giving Duchamp the opportunity of issuing a statement, which he published in a review, The Blind Man.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neville-weston/the-object-duchamp-s-fountain-was-rejected-giving-duchamp-the/) [Neville Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neville-weston/) > [A blind man can see his mouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-blind-man-can-see-his-mouth/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Then he picks up the first book and holds it so Peter can read the title. I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This Peter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/then-he-picks-up-the-first-book-and-holds-it-so-peter-can-read-the/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Mostly, I straddle reality and the imagination. My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/mostly-i-straddle-reality-and-the-imagination-my-reality-needs/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [A blind man walks into a bar...and a table...and a chair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-blind-man-walks-into-a-bar-and-a-table-and-a-chair/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What's the condition of America like, spiritually, tonight? Zero. Why? Because we've got blind men coming out of seminaries. Men there don't teach them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-ravenhill/what-s-the-condition-of-america-like-spiritually-tonight-zero-why/) [Leonard Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-ravenhill/) > [A new civilization is emerging in our lives, and blind men everywhere are trying to suppress it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-toffler/a-new-civilization-is-emerging-in-our-lives-and-blind-men-everywhere/) [Alvin Toffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-toffler/) > [If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. (Matthew 15:14)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/if-a-blind-man-leads-a-blind-man-both-will-fall-into-a-pit-matthew-15/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [A statesman who confines himself to popular legislation - or, for the matter of that, a playwright who confines himself to popular plays -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-statesman-who-confines-himself-to-popular-legislation-or-for-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Browse all 295 Blind man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We shall not lie on our backs at the Red Castle and watch the vultures wheeling over the valley where they killed the grandson of Genghiz. We will not read Babur's memoirs in his garden at Istalif and see the blind man smelling his way around the rose bushes. Or sit in the Peace of Islam with the beggars of Gazar Gagh. We will not stand on the Buddha's head at Bamiyan, upright in his niche like a whale in a dry-dock. We will not sleep in the nomad tent, or scale the Minaret of Jam. And we shall lose the tastes - the hot, coarse, bitter bread; the green tea flavoured with cardamoms; the grapes we cooled in the snow-melt; and the nuts and dried mulberries we munched for altitude sickness. 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